Friday, January 29, 2010

NANAIMO BARS - THE DARING BAKERS

This month has been quite hectic for me and being able to complete my Daring Bakers' Challenge has been more than testing. Anyway, no matter how things have been for me lately, I was not going to miss the opportunity of letting the healing powers of baking soothe my body and soul...

"Nanaimo Bars" originate from Canada. This no-bake confection is named after the West-Coast city of Nanaimo in British Columbia.This wonderfully rich dessert item consists of a wafer crumb-based layer, topped by a layer of light vanilla or custard flavoured butter icing, which is covered in chocolate made from melted chocolate squares.

Just like any bar,"Nanaimo Bars" are not for the faint of heart when it comes to calories. This easy to make chocolaty, nutty, coconutty, vanilla goodness is irresistibly decadent. They are so bad for your cholesterol, but oh so good for your spiritual health!

Many thanks to Lauren for introducing me to the gluten-free world and for making me realise that baked goods which contain no gluten are as delicious as the gluten-ladden ones.

Method:1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the flours, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Pulse on low to incorporate. Add the butter and pulse on and off, until the mixture is the consistency of a coarse meal. If making by hand, combine aforementioned dry ingredients with a whisk, then cut in butter until you have a coarse meal. No chunks of butter should be visible.2. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the honey, milk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture until the dough barely comes together. It will be very soft and sticky.3. Turn the dough onto a surface well-floured with sweet rice flour and pat the dough into a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, about 2 hours, or overnight.4. Divide the dough in half and return one half to the refrigerator. Sift an even layer of sweet rice flour onto the work surface and roll the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. The dough will be quite sticky, so flour as necessary. Cut into 4 by 4 inch squares. Gather the scraps together and set aside. Place wafers on one or two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 30 to 45 minutes. Repeat with the second batch of dough.

5. Adjust the rack to the upper and lower positions and preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).6. Gather the scraps together into a ball, chill until firm, and reroll. Dust the surface with more sweet rice flour and roll out the dough to get a couple more wafers.7. Prick the wafers with toothpick or fork, not all the way through, in two or more rows.8. Bake for 25 minutes, until browned and slightly firm to the touch, rotating sheets halfway through to ensure even baking. Might take less, and the starting location of each sheet may determine its required time. The ones that started on the bottom browned faster.9. When cooled completely, place enough wafers in food processor to make 1 ¼ cups (300 mL) of crumbs. Another way to do this is to place in a large ziplock bag, force all air out and smash with a rolling pin until wafers are crumbs.

Method for the "Bottom Layer":1. Melt unsalted butter, sugar and cocoa in top of a double boiler.2. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat.3. Stir in crumbs, nuts and coconut.4. Press firmly into an ungreased 20x20cm (8 by 8 inch) pan.

Method for the "Top Layer":1. Melt chocolate and unsalted butter over low heat.2. Cool.3. Pour over middle layer and chill.

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REMARKS

These bars freeze very well, so don’t be afraid to pop some into the freezer.The graham wafers may be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.If making the graham crackers with wheat, replace the gluten-free flours (tapioca starch, sweet rice flour, and sorghum flour) with 2 ½ cups plus 2 tbsp of all-purpose wheat flour, or wheat pastry flour. Watch the wheat-based graham wafers very closely in the oven, as they bake faster than the gluten-free ones, sometimes only 12 minutes.For the Nanaimo Bars, if making with wheat, replace the gluten-free graham wafer crumbs with equal parts wheat graham wafer crumbs.

Everything you make is always the prettiest and your bars make me want to eat one, rich and decadent or not. And YES to baking healing and soothing the soul and YES to eating yummy treats for spiritual health!

...not for a faith heart... and not for beginner baker either... but you have very skillful hand to create such professional-looking confection! not to mention your artistic sense in taking these gorgeous fotos! Love 'em!

You're so right Rosa, there's nothing like baking to soothe away all the daily troubles. Your bars are truly exquisite and so perfect,it's just incredible how you can do this time again ,especially with your super busy schedule. Congrats!

Rosa! come over to Natural Selection with your fork! I have always found strawberry shortcake to be in a cake texture, instead of a shortbread like texture this is a more traditional recipe hope you like it.

I found your food blog going through a few links. Glad I ran into it. Didn’t know that the food blog/recipe community was so big online. I love your posts!

I was wondering if you would like to exchange links. I’ll drop yours on my site and you drop mine on yours. Email at ramendays@yahoo.com or stop by my site and drop a comment. Let me know if you would like to do a link exchange.

Hello, hello...thanks for the link exchange. Your link is on my site now too.

I love the photography on your site. I can never get food photography correct. I usually use my studio strobes to photo some of my food, but that doesn't seem to get the same crispyness as your shots in natural light.